The Implementation
When e-scooters will be rolled-out over Amsterdam and the rest of the Netherlands, bicycle parking racks could function as the basis of a network of e-scooter hubs. The exact usage of the bicycle racks should however be clearly formulated in policy.
Policy Recommendations
This research showed that the most optimal way to use bicycle racks for e-scooters is not to use them as physical objects but to utilize the unique fact that they are located almost everywhere in the city. Making use of the locations and not of the slots themselves creates a coverage that is almost 100% for the inner city of Amsterdam which can be seen on the map on the right. E-scooter parking should be focussed on parking in close vicinity of bicycle racks in front of the slots instead of parking inside the slots due to it being easier to park and depart and decreases the chance that the e-scooter or other bikes will be damaged. This will however lead to a decreased capacity for bicycle parking as parking in front of a slot takes up the place of a bicycle.
Further recommendations
To promote users to park their e-scooters in the most optimal way, visual or written guidance is needed. This can be provided through the application needed to lock the e-scooter or by adjusting the bicycle racks themselves.
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Further research should be conducted to find out what way the users can be guided in parking their e-scooter in the most optimal way. This involves researching the target group to find out what method can be used to change their parking behaviour.
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Bicycle racks should be adjusted so that e-scooter wheels fit the slots, either by adjusting the current racks or upgrading them with an additional e-scooter slot in front of the original bicycle slot. Research should provide the most optimal slot size, the width between the slots and the height of the slots.
Further research
The research conducted during this living lab served only as the beginning of further research. During our short experiment, a small (n=30) group of users parked the e-scooters in bicycle racks. This group of 30 participants is not representative for the sociaty as a whole. Further research is therefore needed to experiment with the concept of e-scooter parking in bicycle racks on a larger scale, using more types of bicycle racks. This way, the research becomes even more representative and usefull for other municipalities and cities.